Bullets whizzed over their heads as they ducked and squirmed away from the fire. How could this be happening?, Alexis Wangmene and Patrick Bouli thought to themselves. Less than a week earlier, Wangmene and Bouli were safe, playing basketball with an African youth league all-star team touring the United States. It was 2004, and their group could hardly believe what they saw in New York. Everything seemed bigger. The crowds. The cars. The skyscrapers. They visited Texas, too, to play against high schools and colleges in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. They marveled at their opponents' schedules, with as many as 30 games in one season — in Africa, some seasons lasted just four games.